Insights
by llamaglamasama
Summary: Kikumaru struggles with life when his friends decide their Captain needs a little harassment. Implied TezuFujiRyo


When people thought of Kikumaru Eiji, they thought of a bouncy, childish redhead who wasn't quite up-to-date with the terms of the world. And while that was certainly true, there was more to him than just that. It had often been noted when his acrobatic tennis came into play, that Kikumaru was blessed with the gift of motion vision. Because of this, there were things only he could see.

No one really thought much of it; the redhead was never considered observant, but Eiji had learned long ago that ignorant play was the most advantageous in many scenarios. If people thought he didn't notice things, he wouldn't be the one to correct them. After all, it was their own fault if he saw something they didn't want him to.

Even with his hidden observation skills, he never pried into others' affairs…much. He knew the thin line between good fun and invasion of privacy and he treaded it carefully. Even so, when he could see the turmoil surrounding his dear friends, he had a hard time deciding what to do.

"Eiji," The kind-looking, egg-headed man passed the acrobat a cup of hot chocolate. It was currently about 3 am in the middle of winter, and Oishi had found his longtime friend and partner standing outside his house, looking lost. After assuring himself that he wasn't dreaming, Oishi had flown out the house to make sure his friend was okay. The poor boy was wearing a thin pair of light blue pajamas and a wool sweater – not even close to enough if he wanted to stay warm. He ushered Eiji inside and attempted to warm him up as quietly as he could; he didn't want to make his family at this hour when they had to work tomorrow. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Eiji looked up at him slowly, his fingers grasped around the warm mug. His eyes were confused and hurt with almost a hint of fear. "Oishi…I'm worried about Fujiko. He's…Ochibi and buchou…" Eiji trailed off uncertainly.

Oishi sighed. He wasn't blind; he'd noticed the looks their precious prodigy and the tensai shared…he'd also noticed the looks both of them directed towards Tezuka. But, with Fuji involved, his decision to stay quiet was probably best. Eiji, however…

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Eiji. Fuji knows what he wants, and Tezuka…he can take care of himself."

"Yeah," He didn't sound convinced in the least, "but Ochibi…"

Oishi smiled kindly. "I'm sure its fine. They'll all work things out." With that said, he rolled out a futon for Eiji and set about making sure they'd both sleep. Sure, he was worried too, but there was nothing he could do and Eiji was going to suffer greatly tomorrow if he didn't get enough sleep.

--

There were a few complications in the morning when Oishi's family came down and found the two sleeping peacefully on the futon in the living room. It wasn't unusual for Kikumaru to be found at the Oishi's, but when they were certain he wasn't there last night…Oishi's mom quickly sent a phone call to Eiji's family to be sure everyone was on the same page before waking the boys up.

Mornings with Eiji were unlike mornings with anyone else. The usually hyper boy was, at times, even more crazy than usual, and at other times, he couldn't seem to decide whether or not he was awake yet, the end result looking vaguely like a red-haired zombie from one of those cheesy old movies. Luckily, the Oishi family was pretty much used to their guest's odd behavior and thought nothing of it, which really was a feat in and of itself.

All the way to school, Oishi guided the young boy away from obstacles like poles, cars, people, and that one mailbox that Eiji was convinced was out to get him. When they arrived for morning practice, the redhead was more or less awake and now ready to spread terror into the hearts of all that was good, via glompage. His first target was the smiling tensai who greeted them both kindly, even while he was having the life squeezed out of him. The next victim was the half asleep prodigy who, instead of turning blue, seemed to use this as an excuse for more shuteye. Really, how could people be so abusive of his hugging abilities?

All in all, it was a normal morning for the Seishun Gakuen Tennis Club. It says something about people who see things like the bubbling abominations Inui brought in and not blink an eye. As for not skipping a beat…after consuming said abominations, many believed their hearts had stopped beating _period_. But on to more important matters…

Throughout practice, it failed to miss Eiji's eye when Ochibi and Fujiko would travel to some distant corner of the court and talk. Nor did he miss that the topic of conversation had something to do with their dear buchou, if the pointed glances in his direction were any clue. He was about to approach them when he recalled what Oishi had said and realized any intervention, no matter the intent, would probably end up making things worse. So he stayed quiet and just continued to watch.

--

It was about a month later when things really started to change. They were all subtle changes, blink and you'd miss 'em, but they were there, and he saw them. It started with the increasingly common incident of Ochibi's disappearance and Fujiko's huge smiles as he would also vanish. The two would turn up sometime later, clothes slightly disarrayed and collars higher than before. When changing, Eiji spotted red marks on Ochibi's neck more than once or twice. During these times, Tezuka could be found sporting a twitchy brow and sore temper. Anyone who approached him then had to be prepared for the consequences, ranging from 10 to 20 extra laps. When Fuji and Echizen would return, somehow inconspicuously, they'd often be assigned 50 laps for their absence, but never once did they reveal where they'd been or what they were doing. Because of this, the rumor mill began running crazy with tales ranging from devious ploy to illegitimate children, everyone conveniently forgetting the fact that they were two men.

Around a month after that, Fuji decided to come out of the shadows and randomly announced his intentions toward the youngest regular during lunch one day. Not long after, Ryoma confirmed the rumor that they were dating and the fangirls went wild. During that time, Tezuka had become even more irritable and was dishing out more laps than ever. Eiji had approached Oishi with his concerns again, but they both decided not to get involved; with Fuji around, it was too dangerous.

Four weeks later, in which there were at least seven incidents where someone would walk in on the newest couple making out without shame, and Eiji began to see a trend.

"It's almost as if they're purposely flaunting their relationship. With Fujiko, nya, that's not so weird, but…Ochibi's always been against public display. And yet…what's gonna happen, Oishi?" He looked up at his partner with big, watery eyes.

Oishi sighed. "I don't know, Eiji. I don't know."

The next morning, the Golden pair arrived at the locker room to see Momoshiro and Kaidou lurking outside it, faces both extremely red. Inui crouched next to the door, ear pressed against cool metal, and scribbled furiously. Loud bangs and moans could be heard through the door and both Eiji and Oishi immediately started blushing.

"What's going on here?" They turned to see Tezuka, eyebrow twitching ferociously.

"U-um…" Momo gulped and gestured towards the door. Tezuka growled under his breath and opened the door. Most of them had shut their eyes as soon as the door opened, but when nothing happened, they peeked into the room. Echizen Ryoma and Fuji Syuusuke sat on a bench, both harmlessly snacking on carrots. Or it would be harmless, were it not for the huge smirks on both their faces and the tape recorder sitting between them, echoing sounds of panting and gasping.

Tezuka snapped. "Echizen, Fuji, 100 laps. Get moving!" He walked forward to his locker and changed quickly, slamming the door loudly. The two guilty parties had already flitted out of the room, but they had somehow failed to turn off the tape recorder before they left. Tezuka twitched again and ordered someone to smash the stupid thing, though of course, his words were much more eloquent.

After that, Eiji genuinely began fearing for the sanity of the club. They'd put up with their share of whackos, sure enough, but this was cutting it close. Then, for the most part, they couldn't believe that their little Ochibi could be so…vulgar…

Finally, Eiji couldn't stand it any more and forced himself to do something, namely shut the three prodigies into a cramped broom cupboard and run like hell. It worked to, after about six hours. When they were finally released from their little prison, they weren't at each other's throats and they actually looked moderately pleased, if the telltale smirk on Ochibi's face was any indication. Fuji approached Eiji and actually _thanked_ him for his efforts. The genuine smile on his best friend's face assured Eiji that everything would be okay, some way or another. Now, if only he could get things working with Oishi, and maybe they could be just as happy.

**God help me, I just wrote implied OT3. Yikes…**

**Well, I'm not really sure what this is, but I hope you liked it.**

Omake

"Saa, looks like the tape did what we wanted, after all." Fuji smiled from his perch on Tezuka's lap. They were sitting in Fuji's bedroom, talking contentedly after a long day at practice.

"You have no idea what a pain it was to record that." Ryoma muttered darkly, sprawled across the laps of both boys. "Syuusuke kept insisting we had to get it right and we ended up sitting through seventeen different chick flicks, all of which we had to sneak into because we're too young to legally watch the stupid sex scenes."

"Aw, Ryo-chan, you don't need to flatter me, really. Anyway, if it had been two guys screwing, I'm sure you would've enjoyed the healthy dosage of porn more, ne?"

Ryoma groaned and wrapped his arms around Tezuka. "What was I thinking when I got myself into this?" He sighed.


End file.
